What's going down?

The sands of time seem to be passing through the hourglass faster than usual, Bloggy. It seems like only ten days ago I took time off from posting to this blog so I could work on some related projects. During that time, some surprising developments have gone down:

First, the Carbondale Park District board of directors announced in a paid advertisement (wouldn't you think the message would be posted on the CPD website?) -- an open letter to citizens (Feb. 17) -- that the board of directors had decided to put the sale of Hickory Lodge on hold for an unspecified time -- although it would continue the legal process necessary to subdivide the property for faster liquidation. . . . A Circuit Court hearing was scheduled for yesterday (Feb 23).

As reporter Nicole Sack explains:

Since the three parcels of land are each less than three acres in size, the board was able to avoid a public referendum and instead will seek approval for the sale from the Circuit Court. The absence of community input has become one of the many issues that have outraged citizens.

More than 30 community members attended the Feb. 9 park board meeting, asking the board to reconsider the method and the sale of the public land . . . . More than 350 petitions and letters of opposition also were presented to the board.

So now, even if the sale was approved by the Circuit Court, supporters of the Lodge will be given time (how much?) to develop viable proposals [for] long-term use and financial sustainability. Key word: viable. It costs $13,000 per year to run the place. Plus $250,000 to get the building up to code for public use.

Holy Hoops, Blogman!

Even more surprising were the recent losses by the Saluki men's basketball team. Much has already been said and written about this turn of events (although nothing in Paul Klee's Dawg Blog) Bottom line: they're a great team and will be even greater next season, with something to prove (like the teams that have beaten them this season, such as Evansville -- twice!)

And did you see 5'9" NBA star Nate Robinson's dunk over Spud Webb over All Star weekend? Despite comedian Jay Mohr's slam against All-Star weekend and Andre Iguodala getting robbed, the warm-up events should inspire those who have been labeled with a limiting stereotype: since a 7-footer won the 3 point shootout and an under-six-footer wins the slam dunk contest.

Speaking of going down

I watched the movie The Aristocrats recently, on the recommendation of a former Carbondaleite, now living beyond the mountains, who also recommended Beyond the Sea, the biopic in which 40ish Kevin Spacey fails to deliver the vigor of its subject: pop singer Bobby Darin (a childhood hero) and actress Sandra Dee (a pubescent fantasy). Spacey was born to play comedian Jack Benny, not Bobby Darin (a young Nick Cage), and Benny is said to have enjoyed the obscene joke that is the focus of The Aristocrats -- a film that really #!!$%#@! and #!!$%#@! as some famous comedians improvise obscenities or punch lines to the world's most obscene joke. Supposedly, The Aristocrats was Johnny Carson's favorite joke. Don't see it. I repeat: DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. Unless you're a comedian, in which case you'll love it long time.

And speaking of long time . . .

Items on the Agenda

It looks like the City's audio recordings of city council meetings will be available only by agenda item. This will save bandwith and citizens' time, while providing optimal information availability. Except for Roll Call; General Announcements and Proclamations; Citizens' Comments and Questions; and Public Hearings, which are not included -- possibly through oversight.

Much To Do About Something

With everything else that has transpired, I've been plugging away on my own projects, especially the documenary history of sand painting. A wonderful coincidence that a dozen or so Tibetan monks paid a three-day visit to the SIUC Student Center in order to make a colorful mandala of sand, one of the Mystical Arts of Tibet. Naturally, local sand painter Victor DeGraff was keen on viewing the proceedings and I shot some nice footage of him conversing with one of the monks for the documentary. (Yo Tendhar, what's up?) When the monks complete a mandala sand painting, it is ceremoniously destroyed, and the sand deposited into the nearest river.

And that's a good place to end this post. Symmetry has its place.